Matt Sandusky, silent no more, works to stop abuse
By Elizabeth Simpson The Virginian-Pilot September 8, 2014
VIRGINIA BEACH

The turning point, for Matthew Sandusky, was the 2012 courtroom testimony of Victim No. 4.

The witness’s description of sexual abuse mirrored Matthew’s own experience so vividly it moved him to disclose to police that he, too, had been molested by former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky – who was also his adoptive father.

At the time, Matthew wished he also could have been identified by a number instead of a name, to shield his wife and children.

“Our world turned upside down,” Matthew, 35, said in a phone interview from State College, Pa., last week. “We lost family. We lost friends. It felt like everyone was against us and blaming us for everything. We were really alone.”

His father was convicted, and this year, Matthew has used that famous last name to become a national activist to help people disclose and recover from sexual abuse….

“I want to empower people to get help if they feel alone,” he said.

It’s been a brutal journey for him, one that led him to legally change his last name, and those of his wife and children, from Sandusky to one he doesn’t publicize.

He now reserves the Sandusky name that once opened doors and secured him a tuition break at Penn State for another reason: to raise awareness of child sexual abuse.

Matthew was first listed as a witness to defend his adopted father, but during the trial, the testimony of Victim No. 4 was so similar to his own that he went to the police and disclosed the abuse, hoping it would not be made public.

An audio recording was leaked to the media, but he never had to take the stand in the 2012 trial. Jerry Sandusky was convicted of 45 charges of child sex abuse and given a sentence of 30 to 60 years in prison.

Matthew met him when he was 7 years old through The Second Mile charity camp. The abuse began the next year and continued into his teens, he said….

In the phone interview, Matthew said he was confused about the abuse as a child because it was not physically painful, and it seemed like a fair trade-off for the financial and emotional stability of the Sandusky household, something he didn’t have from his biological family.

There is likely nothing more horrifying or despicable in college football’s history than the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. The legal fallout was immense, with Sandusky locked away for what most assume will be the rest of his life and another three Penn State officials are still standing trial for their alleged roles in covering up Sandusky’s actions. Many also called on the NCAA to drop the hammer on the football program that facilitated decades of child abuse, and the governing body did not disappoint: Penn State was forced to pay $60 million over a five-year period, plus the football team was hit with a four-year bowl ban and a loss of 20 football scholarships.

And yet on Monday, the NCAA announced that its executive committee has restored Penn State’s postseason eligibility, effective immediately, and next season the team will return to a full complement of 85 scholarships, which accelerates an easing of the sanctions already made last year. These changes are based on recommendations made in a report from George Mitchell, the school’s external athletic integrity monitor. Mitchell, who is responsible for monitoring Penn State’s efforts to enact recommendations made in the Freeh Report, cited the school’s progress since the sanctions were handed down two years ago, including the formation of a comprehensive compliance program.

It’s curious that the NCAA would agree to so radically mitigate sanctions stemming from what is the single most horrible scandal in its history, especially considering that the NCAA rarely diminishes punishments for even far less serious violations. For one example, Big Ten rival Ohio State was hit with NCAA sanctions in 2011 after it was discovered that some players traded memorabilia for money and tattoos; that punishment was never modified at a later date, and the team is still playing with a reduced number of scholarships…. http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/2014/09/08/ncaa-restores-penn-states-postseason-eligibility-football-scholarships/

Martin Kimber, chief executive of the council at the centre of the child exploitation scandal, will quit at the end of the year
Helen Pidd, northern editor
theguardian.com, Monday 8 September 2014

The chief executive of Rotherham council is to step down, saying a new leader would help the town recover after it emerged councillors, police and social services turned a blind eye to the abuse of at least 1,400 children….

The independent Jay inquiry into historical cases of child sexual exploitation highlighted serious failings by agencies in the town involved in protecting children and young people.

Irish Catholic leader apologises for child abuse as he steps down
Agence France-Presse September 8, 2014

Cardinal Sean Brady, who was criticised over his handling of abuse scandals, stepped down as leader of the Irish Catholic Church on Monday with an emotional plea for forgiveness.

“I too need to say sorry and to ask forgiveness and I do so again today,” Brady told the faithful at a mass in Armagh in Northern Ireland.

Brady, who played a key role in the peace process after being appointed in 1996, had tendered his resignation to the Vatican last month after turning 75, the normal retirement age for senior clergy.

His years as leader of the Irish church coincided with a series of damning revelations of widespread clerical sex abuse.

Brady himself became directly embroiled in accusations that he mishandled child abuse allegations during an investigation into notorious paedophile Father Brendan Smyth.

In 1975, as a young priest and canon lawyer investigating the actions of Smyth, Brady did not report the allegations of abuse to the police. Smyth continued to abuse children until his arrest and conviction in the 1990s.

A total of 12,192 contacts were answered by the DRCC’s National 24-Hour Helpline, including 9,614 “genuine” calls, an increase of five per cent compared with 2012 figures.

A total of 43 per cent of these calls relate to adult rape, an increase of three per cent compared to 2012.

The report also indicates that 231 victims of rape and sexual assault were accompanied by trained DRCC volunteers at the Rotunda Sexual Assault Treatment Unit in 2013….

Other findings include the fact that the majority of callers (78 per cent) were female and 22 per cent were men; 43 per cent of calls related to adult rape; nine per cent of calls related to adult sexual assault; 53 per cent of calls related to adult sexual violence, including rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and trafficking and 47 per cent of calls related to childhood sexual abuse, including ritual abuse and suspected abuse…. http://www.dublinpeople.com/article.php?id=4026&l=100

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